


Warforged

by Gloomier



Category: Naruto
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Insecurity, Light Angst, M/M, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-14 16:17:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gloomier/pseuds/Gloomier
Summary: Iruka only wanted to save Kakashi after the idiot let himself get distracted.“I still don’t understand. What do you mean we’re married?!”





	Warforged

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MagnusTesla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnusTesla/gifts).



> I accidentally gave a difficult prompt to MagnusTesla over on Tumblr ([accidentally getting married](https://magnustesla.tumblr.com/post/185389636035/if-youre-still-taking-prompts-how-about)). So I decided to also take on the prompt as an "I totally didn't mean to drop this anvil on your foot" apology. This particular version of the trope is well liked in another fandom I write for, and I thought Kakairu could use even more accidental marriage fic. It was supposed to be cute and funny, borderline cracky even, but somehow it ended up kinda serious. Enjoy!
> 
> This takes place during the three-year gap.
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://tea-blitz.tumblr.com/)

****Iruka cut an anger-fueled path around the rug that covered the ground of his temporary living arrangements.

He was going to murder a lot of people. He even started a list!

First on that list was Hatake Fucking Kakashi, because what kind of jounin gets stuck in a simple mud trap created by some B-ranked garbage can missing-nin that led a bunch of bandits? Iruka absolutely wanted to make that asshole’s life a living hell.

The second was Gai because the dramatically enthusiastic man didn’t know what volume control was. Additionally, the green menace wouldn’t stop crying every time he spotted Iruka or Kakashi. Iruka would save Tsunade for last. There was a special place in hell for that harpy because she had the gall to assign him the mission along with Kakashi and Gai.

“‘It’s an easy but important mission’, she says! ‘You’re great with people, and your patience will do wonders. I know I can trust you with this, Iruka-sensei!’” Iruka sarcastically mimicked Tsunade’s words as he lapped the rug again.

A little over a week ago the academy let out for the summer. The first day of his break, Iruka had every intention of sleeping in until at least noon, maybe do some long overdue cleaning, then probably get dragged out for food and bar hopping later in the evening. In short, it was going to be a very lazy and self-indulgent day. Then an ANBU had come knocking at his door to tell Iruka that he had been summoned to Tsunade’s office.

He’d kill that ANBU as well.

Iruka added Badger to the _To Murder_ list.

The mission in question had come from a practically off-the-radar clan hidden in the mountainous and forest dense south-western region of Fire Country. The only reason Konoha was given the mission was because a clanswoman from a younger generation, more comfortable with modern civilization, had had dealings with Leaf in the past.

It was fascinating that the clan’s village managed to brush off modernization as it did. The clan depended on some trade, which was whatever they could get with what they dug out of their mines (aside from the rare stuff: iron, some silver, and an assortment of lesser gems); medicines and what couldn’t be hunted, grown or foraged on their lands. They weren’t really aggressive people, not since the warring days.

Tsunade accepted the contract because the clan had access to an incredibly rare and durable metal, and they were willing to export several generous shipments of it as payment within the year. The potential in such material was deemed well worth it. Which was how Iruka, Kakashi, and Gai ended up a long way from home to fight a group of persistent bandits with a B-class missing-nin as its leader.

“It’s not that bad,” Kakashi remarked in a bored tone.

Iruka turned on his heel and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, who was looking right back at him. His mask was down and hitai-ate off, and still, he looked just as bored as he had sounded.

“Not that bad?” Iruka hissed caustically, stalking toward the bed—which was really just a big pile of furs—that Kakashi lounged on. His sprained right ankle was propped up on a pillow folded in half. “You weren’t paying attention to your damn self! You got caught in a jutsu I teach twelve-year-olds and nearly broke your leg because of it. Your dumb ass nearly got killed by that idiot—” Iruka yelled, gesturing angrily at the hut’s walls, in what he hoped was the general direction of the missing-moron’s pile of ashes, “—and we’re married now because of some ancient clan tradition!”

And really, that was the icing on the cake.

The group of bandits their team was sent to dispatch attacked the village head-on when they had discovered help from Konoha was called in. It was a dumb and unpredictable, yet clever, move that had caused a lot of chaos resulting in a few casualties and many injuries. Kakashi had been one of those that had got injured because he let himself get distracted. Iruka had things under control on his end (the bandits were, in essence, civilians with weapons). He knew that there had been a bandit trying to sneak up on him while he faced off against two others, but Kakashi, in all his genius, dropped his focus on the missing-nin to help Iruka.

Iruka didn’t know what had possessed the jounin to do what he did, but it allowed the missing-nin to get the drop on Kakashi. The mud pit was unexpected and managed to trap Kakashi while he tried to go for Iruka. The timing of the jutsu caught Kakashi’s right leg awkwardly and nearly snapped it in half as he fell over.

The enemy ninja had no plans on stopping his assault, naturally, and Iruka might have gotten a  little too overzealous with the combination of explosive tags and barriers, but everyone made it out alive. And maybe for just a second, while he stood next to Kakashi’s prone but conscious form, the cheers and happy hoots made Iruka feel like the hero of the day.

After Kakashi was dug out of the mud, and his ankle seen to, one of the clan elders came up and congratulated them on their new marriage.

What a blindside _that_ was.

Iruka needed the tradition explained a few times before he believed it.

_“I still don’t understand. What do you mean_ we’re married?!” _Iruka asked through gritted teeth._

_“If a warrior protects a comrade in battle, and it results in the death of a powerful enemy, then the pair are considered bonded. Or married, I guess.” One of the younger clansmen helpfully explained. “We call it warforged.”_

_“But what if I don’t want to be?”_

_“It’s considered a bad omen should the warforged couple not acknowledge the marriage.”_

A feast had been held in their honor, with lots of booze and food and music. Iruka had to sit next to Kakashi the entire time while they watched as Gai and the rest of the revelers got completely plastered. Iruka would have gotten blackout drunk too just to forget the entire day, but his strong negative emotions killed the idea entirely. He was a happy drunk, and he wasn’t ready to just forget what happened and be happy.

The party seemed to feed on itself and after hour two Iruka was ready to leave.

To Iruka’s complete and utter mortification, a separate hut had been set up for just him and Kakashi. Alone. It was just Iruka, Kakashi, and a big pile of furs and blankets and pillows (with some basic amenities).

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. “Could be worse. We could be dead.”

_“You_ could be dead, idiot!” Iruka growled. “I would have been fine, but you—”

Iruka abruptly cut himself off when he felt the tickle of emotions in his throat. Even his eyes were threatening to tear up. Kakashi remained gloriously silent as Iruka squeezed his eyes shut and took a few seconds to compose himself. He reeled in and bottled up as much of his emotions as he could then opened his eyes.

He ignored Kakashi and pulled off his sandals, throwing them one after another at the wall of the hut. He tossed his flak vest on a chair with Kakashi’s; his thigh holster, hip pouch, and hitai-ate ended up on a table along with Kakashi’s pile of things.

Iruka let down his hair as he walked over, shoving the hair tie in his pocket, and flopped down on the “bed” at Kakashi’s left side, taking care not to jostle Kakashi despite his anger toward the infuriating man. He let himself zone out while he glared up at the ceiling of the hut.

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi murmured. The words were cool and steady, just like they were whenever Kakashi had to deal with something uncomfortable or serious.

Iruka almost missed the upset waver in the jounin’s voice.

He knew he was overreacting a bit, but how could he not? Iruka never believed the garbage about dying a glorious death. Dying wasn’t glorious. He’d seen his fair share of deaths, enemy and friendly, to know that it’s a messy and painful business. Kakashi’s death would have been the farthest thing from glorious too. Iruka would have been absolutely _thrilled_ to give that mission report. _‘Oh hey, so we went on that really easy mission and one of your best got killed thanks to a fucking mud pit and a distraction. Sorry!’_ Nine fucking hells.

Iruka grunted despondently as his brain replayed the day's events over and over. With each replay, Kakashi died in a whole new interesting and bloody way. He wanted to throw up. After replay ten, Kakashi broke the silence.

“Are you angry about me almost dying, or is the thought of being married to me really that appalling?” Kakashi asked flatly.

It took Iruka a moment to process Kakashi’s words, but when he finally did he shot up from the bed and stared down at Kakashi in surprise. Kakashi determinedly looked anywhere but at Iruka.

“Kakashi, I’m mad because you almost died because of _me,”_ Iruka admitted heatedly, wishing Kakashi would look at him.

When Kakashi didn’t respond or move, Iruka slipped his hand into Kakashi’s and laced their fingers together.

“And I don’t find you appalling,” Iruka argued softly as he gently rubbed over the knuckles of Kakashi’s bare thumb.

“But you don’t want to be married to me,” Kakashi countered, tilting his head to look up at Iruka.

The insecurity woven into Kakashi’s words and glittering in his eye made Iruka flinch.

“Kakashi, we’ve been dating for a month. It’s extremely early to be considering marriage, don’t you think?” Iruka said kindly and squeezed Kakashi’s hand.

“Ah.”

Kakashi turned his head away and his eye wandered away again. Iruka’s stomach did little flips as he began to close up.

Truthfully, Iruka never really expected their whatever-it-was to last more than a week, two tops. Iruka had felt down about Naruto leaving the village to train with Jiraiya, and to his surprise, Kakashi had looked like he was suffering too. Iruka was only looking to cheer both of them up with a nice dinner, but it ended up being a really _great_ dinner. As aloof as the jounin seemed to be most of the time, they were able to hold a steady and enjoyable conversation. His company was a breath of fresh air for Iruka. And then their one friendly dinner led to a second, and a third. The fourth dinner ended with Kakashi kissing Iruka silly—and a little _more._ Their dinners had somehow become dates without either of them really realizing it.

He didn’t know where they’d end up a year from now. Iruka hoped that they could figure it all out, but getting married out of the blue, without them reaching a point in their relationship to talk it out, scared the hell out of him. Only he didn’t realize the effect his vehement protests about the marriage would have on Kakashi.

Iruka sighed.

“Kakashi, just because I’m upset over randomly getting married to you doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you,” Iruka said, reaching over with his free hand to cup Kakashi’s jaw. Instead of directing Kakashi to look at him, Iruka let his fingers slowly trace the line of his jaw. His thumb lightly caressed Kakashi’s cheekbone, the wild white hair tickled his fingertips.

The gentle touching brought the Kakashi’s gaze back to his.

“I’m just really glad that you’re alive, and that I still have you.”

Kakashi did squeeze Iruka’s hand then. His grip was tight, almost to the point of pain but Iruka didn’t care. He matched the strength of Kakashi’s grip.

“I would have died for you, and I wouldn’t have regretted it,” Kakashi confessed gravely.

Iruka didn’t doubt Kakashi’s sincerity. He knew a little of the jounin’s past, knows how deeply it has cut him because Iruka’s still cut him to pieces too from time to time.

He shuffled to his knees, pulling his right hand out of Kakashi’s grip as he shifted his body to face the jounin, then tucked his legs beneath him. His other hand slipped down from Kakashi’s face to rest on his neck—over the pulse point. Iruka found comfort in the steady beating of Kakashi’s heart.

“And I wouldn’t have let you.”

“Damn it, Iruka!” Kakashi snarled, lips twisting unhappily. He grabbed Iruka’s hand and pulled it downward, holding it tightly to his chest. Both of Kakashi’s eyes were piercing and filled with desperation.

“No, Kakashi!” Iruka protested, curling his fingers into Kakashi’s shirt. “I don’t want that! I want you to do your best to stay alive so that you can come back home—to me.”

Kakashi immediately deflated and he clung to Iruka like he was a lifeline. The look on his face was a cross between wrecked and contrite.

“I really want this to work between us because I really, _really_ like you Kakashi. I just—seeing you slip up as you did nearly killed me.” Iruka finished roughly.

“I’m sorry,” Kakashi repeated hoarsely.

Without thinking about it Iruka leaned over and kissed Kakashi. He didn’t let it go beyond just a simple press of lips. He hoped it would convey all that he was feeling. There were just too many emotions and his words were going to start failing him.

Kakashi tensed for a split second before he returned the kiss and let his eyes flutter closed. He exhaled shakily when Iruka pulled away to pepper the rest of his bare face with kisses. Kakashi remained silent, and with each kiss, he became more relaxed until he was all but a puddle amidst the pile of furs.

“I forgive you,” Iruka whispered against Kakashi’s lips, giving him one final kiss before pulling away.

Iruka tugged his hand out from where it was still trapped against Kakashi’s chest so that he could twine their fingers together. He shifted, stretching his legs back out, and pressed himself into Kakashi’s side, pillowing his head on the jounin’s shoulder. Iruka sighed contentedly when Kakashi curled an arm around his back and burrowed his face into Iruka’s hair.

“You know, when we get back everyone is going to know what happened. Gai won’t be able to keep his mouth shut.” Iruka yawned, cuddling into Kakashi. “And Tsunade will make us fill out all the paperwork. She won’t risk such an opportunity by letting us get a divorce—wouldn't want to offend the clan.”

Iruka’s eyes drooped closed then. Now that he was calmed down, the day’s events finally caught up with him.

Kakashi sighed miserably and squished Iruka into his side. “I am not looking forward to it.”

“You were right, it could be worse. You could be married to Gai.” Iruka snickered.

“But I’m glad it was you,” Kakashi murmured just as Iruka drifted off to sleep.


End file.
